THE SNP have accused the Tories of “moving the goalposts” on a second independence referendum timetable – pointing to comments Ruth Davidson previously made when their stance on a new vote appeared more open in the longer term.

In June 2017, the then Scottish Conservative leader told Nicola Sturgeon the prospect of another independence vote should be ditched until “after the Holyrood elections in 2021”.

However, since then the Prime Minister has suggested a new vote should not take place until 2055.

And earlier this week, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross refused to accept there is a democratic path to Scots being able to decide their own future in an independence referendum, while the party's MSP Adam Tomkins suggested Scotland should be legally forced to stay in the UK.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants a second independence referendum by the end of 2023 on the condition the pandemic is over and is seeking a mandate on May 6 to hold one, which she says would be achieved with a pro-independence majority in Holyrood.

“These comments show how the Tories just keep trying to shift the goalposts,” said Angus Robertson, the former SNP deputy leader who is the party's candidate for Edinburgh Central at the Holyrood election.

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“In 2017, their position was that they were only opposed to a referendum for the duration of the parliament – now they are simply trying to string it out indefinitely.

“But they cannot keep running from democracy. If a pro-independence, pro-referendum majority is returned to Holyrood at this election, then the people of Scotland cannot be denied a choice on their future.

“And the decisive way to ensure Nicola Sturgeon is re-elected to lead an SNP government which can deliver a referendum is to give both votes to the SNP on May 6.”

Davidson set out her views four years ago after the First Minister gave a statement to parliament announcing “a reset” of her timetable to hold a second vote.

That followed the General Election the previous month, when the SNP lost 21 of their 56 seats.

Sturgeon had initially said she wanted a vote between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, but then revised the timetable until after the end of the Brexit negotiations.

On June 9, 2017, Davidson said: “Let me be clear: nobody, not me, not anyone, is expecting the SNP to give up on independence.

“That’s what it believes and it’s a perfectly honourable position to take.”

And responding to the First Minister’s statement on the reset she gave on June 27 of that year, Davidson called for ministers to promise “there should be no separation vote for at least the duration of the Scottish parliamentary term”.

And she added: “She should just give the country some certainty and take if off the table for the rest of this parliament at least.”

Davidson’s party’s stance seems to have substantially hardened against any vote in the coming years.

In January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested a new vote should not take place until 41 years after the 2014 referendum, which would take the timetable to 2055.

READ MORE: Tory MSP says Scotland should be legally forced to stay in the Union

Meanwhile, in an interview with Channel 4 News this week, Ross was asked six times to sketch out a legitimate route to indyref2 – but rejected each opportunity to do so.

Asked to spell out the democratic path to an independence referendum, Ross said: "People in Scotland can decide on May 6 to get a parliament that is laser-focused on our recovery on rebuilding Scotland, we do that by stopping an SNP majority.

“And the tried and tested method to stop the SNP is to vote for the Scottish Conservatives because we’ve got the strength across the country to stand up to the SNP to challenge them and to stop their plans to divide our country with another independence referendum."

He was pressed by the interviewer several more times, but refused to budge from that stance.

On the fifth attempt, the Channel 4 reporter asked: “One last try, just for me. Is there a democratic way of having this referendum? At all? In your view?”

The Scottish Tory leader replied: “We’ve had a referendum in 2014. What we’re saying in this election is we can stop the SNP with their divisive plans to have it again in the next couple of years.”

Writing in the Spectator Tomkins, the party’s former spokesman on the constitution, suggested Scotland should be legally forced to stay in the Union.

The Glasgow MSP argued that the UK Government should look at the Spanish constitutional model which bans any region from leaving the state.

The Union as currently formed is based on the consent of the four constituent nations remaining together.

Tomkins, who is not seeking re-election next month, wrote: “For the last century the United Kingdom has regarded itself as a voluntary Union of four home nations.

"Consent, rather than the force of law, has been the glue that has held us together. This is not normal. Most countries hold themselves together with something rather more robust.

“In Spain, the courts, applying the constitution, ruled that it was unlawful for Catalan separatists even to hold a vote on Catalan independence.”

The Scottish Conservatives were approached for comment.